The Board of Trustees of the UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia), under the umbrella of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), held its third meeting in 2019, chaired by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Suqia. The meeting was attended by HE Fahad Abdelrahman bin Sultan, Deputy Secretary General for International Aid at the UAE Red Crescent Authority; HE Dr Arif Al Hammadi, Executive Vice President of the Khalifa University of Science and Technology; HE Dr Ahmed Ali Murad, Dean of the College of Science at UAE University; Nasser Lootah, Executive Vice President of Generation at DEWA; Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development & Excellence at DEWA; Mohammed Abdulkareem Al Shamsi, Acting Executive Director of Suqia; and Fahad bin Afira Al Falasi, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Suqia.
“At Suqia, we continue to implement projects and initiatives to enhance the UAE's global position as a beacon of humanity and a haven for charity and humanitarianism, extending its helping hands to the needy around the world without discrimination of religion, colour, race, or culture. We are also working to achieve the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in humanitarian development and community work as well as the objectives of the MBRGI to combat poverty and disease. This will be done by finding permanent and sustainable solutions to water scarcity around the world; researching solutions to purify and desalinate water from solar power to help millions of people around the world who are suffering from drinking contaminated water,” said Al Tayer.
At the beginning of the meeting, the board members reviewed Suqia’s achievements in the first four months of 2019. The second Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water Award and its new categories were announced last April as well as Suqia’s initiatives during the Holy Month of Ramadan. This includes its international campaign in cooperation with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment and the UAE Embassy in Chad to distribute water. There are 12 Ramadan campaigns underway in Chad, Uganda, Egypt, Brazil, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Benin, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, and the Philippines. Locally, Suqia provided 14 local charities with about 8.3 million water cups to be distributed to fasters throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan.
The meeting also discussed Suqia’s support of the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 that hosted about 7,000 athletes in Dubai. Suqia, in cooperation with Mai Dubai, provided 50,000 water bottles to participating delegations.
“We also discussed updates to Suqia’s website, where it is possible to submit electronic applications for the award, receive electronic donations, and review Suqia’s achievements, initiatives, and programmes, as well as facts about the global water crisis and its impact,” said Al Shamsi.
Al Shamsi said that Suqia continues its Ramadan campaign this year in cooperation with Mai Dubai to provide water to people fasting through a number of local charities, in addition to providing water to people fasting in different countries around the world in cooperation with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment.